File:Molecular-mechanisms-underlying-the-therapeutic-effects-of-mometasone-furoate-in-asthma.png

English: Figure 1 of 2 Figure 1. Molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of mometasone furoate in asthma. Mometasone furoate is a liposoluble molecule which crosses the cell membrane and binds to the cytoplasmic glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Following mometasone binding, the activated GR migrates to the nucleus, where interacts with specific regulatory DNA sequences known as glucocorticoid response elements (GRE). GRE are located inside target genes encoding anti-inflammatory proteins such as GILZ (glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper) and MKP-1 (mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1). The latter dephosphorylates and inactivates the pro-inflammatory p38 MAPK enzyme. Furthermore, activated GR can also bind via protein–protein interactions to the transcription factor nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB), thereby inactivating its proinflammatory functions by preventing DNA-binding.